Free The Blood Racer (The Blood Racer Trilogy Book 1) by Matthew Winchester Page A

anger bubbling up under my skin. “How much has that stupid race cost me, Rigel?”
              “That’s not what I mean,” he said, holding up a hand defensively. “You know I know all about that. I didn’t mean that.”
              I scoffed and turned to face the front windscreen. “Then please…clarify.”
              I could hear him fidgeting where he sat. “I just mean that I know you see the other side of it, too. You see the opportunity. You see the…the draw of it. You can see how it’s a window to escape.”
              “If by ‘escape’ you mean ‘death’, then yes. I agree with you,” I said, unable to let go of my aggravation.
              “I know you know what I mean,” he said, sounding a little annoyed himself. “That’s why so many people enter. They know it’s dangerous, but there’s something else. There’s the prize money, which would mean freedom for anybody.”
              Poor Rigel. He had always been a dreamer, an idealist. He only ever saw the sky, and never the clouds. Yes, there was prize money. A ludicrous amount of prize money. But the odds of winning were so slim, and the chances of death were so high, it just wasn’t worth it. Several generations of my bloodline had all lost their lives chasing the same tiny spark of hope that Rigel was talking about. I was suddenly very glad that Rigel didn’t have a ship of his own. The way he was talking, I would have had to knock him out to keep him from entering the race.
              “We should talk about something else,” I said shortly.
              Rigel exhaled. “Sure.”
              But we didn’t talk about anything else. We didn’t talk at all for about ten long minutes. Rigel sat quietly behind me, lost in his mind full of pipe dreams. I focused on flying, and watching the traffic around me. Off my port wing, I noticed a sleek, shining ship glinting in the sun. I watched it apprehensively as it slowly tilted toward me, getting closer and closer until it was only a few yards from me.
              “You’d better check your space, buddy,” I said to myself. I was tempted to get on my radio and give the pilot an earful. As the fancy ship slipped a little bit closer, however, I could see into the perfectly sloped cockpit windscreen, and I felt my jaw clench.
              Audra Carina. She must have been on her way to Rainier for the night. No doubt she would be first to line up for the start of the race in the morning.
              As we flew, she looked over at me, a smug grin plastered on her perfect face. Holding my gaze, she quickly sped up and then slowed down, matching pace with me once more. She did this twice more before I understood what she was doing. She was challenging me to a race. Scowling at her, I reached over for my throttle. She was in desperate need of a lesson, and I would be all too happy to teach it. I was about to punch the accelerator, but another hand atop mine stopped me.
              “Don’t do it,” Rigel said as I looked over at him in confusion. “You don’t have anything to prove to her.”
              “Do you know who that is?” I asked, feeling adrenaline ebbing into my bloodstream.
              Rigel nodded. “I do. And I know you don’t owe her anything.”
              “Let go,” I ordered, looking into his eyes. He looked forlorn, like the last thing he wanted was to see me race against Audra. Why? Did he have that little faith in me? What was he afraid of?
              After a long moment, he slowly released his grip on my hand and sat back. Immediately, I hammered down on the throttle and took off, watching with glee as Audra was suddenly struggling to keep up. After a second, she was with me again, and